УПРАЗДНЕНИЕ ИНСТИТУТА ЗЕМСКИХ УЧАСТКОВЫХ НАЧАЛЬНИКОВ В РОССИЙСКОЙ ИМПЕРИИ В МАРТЕ 1917 Г. (НА ПРИМЕРЕ БЕЛОРУССКИХ ГУБЕРНИЙ)

Abstract

The article deals in an abolition of the positions of Zemstvo district chiefs in the Belarusian provinces during the February Revolution of 1917. Positions were introduced in the Russian Empire in 1889 in order to strengthen government control over the peasantry. As a rule, the positions of Zemstvo district chiefs were taken over by local landlords. Those officials were subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Along with administrative powers, they were given judicial functions in relation to peasants (previously it was under the jurisdiction of justices of the peace). It contradicted the principle of separating the judiciary from administrative authority and put the peasants in an unequal legal position compared to other estates. In the Belarusian provinces the positions of Zemstvo district chiefs existed until March 1917, when their activity was terminated by the Provisional Government. The liquidation of those positions during the February Revolution looked like a completely natural measure in the context of trend of renewal and democratization of public life. At the same time, in practice, then often led to vacuum of judicial power in rural areas and made it almost impossible for local authorities to maintain law and order.